republic-os/legislation/us/states/wv/2026/hb-5401.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to voting in West Virginia elections while residing overseas"
description: "Relating to voting in West Virginia elections while residing overseas"
jurisdiction: "us/states/wv"
legislature: "West Virginia Legislature"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 5401"
citation: "West Virginia HB 5401 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Elections"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Funkhouser"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 44
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2026-02-10"
last_action: "2026-06-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b63dc128-231e-4237-9acb-75a610be035c"
source_url: "https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=5401&year=2026&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill"
source_hash: "ee43ed3474fc882d08f964df58d6e1dc1025563f534f42b02a2caf3f588dc13d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wv"]
---

# West Virginia HB 5401 (2026) — Relating to voting in West Virginia elections while residing overseas

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb5401%20sub1.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=5401)
2. **Engrossed Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb5401%20sub1%20eng.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=5401)
3. **Enrolled Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb5401%20sub1%20enr.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=5401)
4. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb5401%20intr.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=5401)
5. **hb5401 s jud am 3-11 adopted.htm** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/chamber/2026/RS/com_amends/hb5401%20s%20jud%20am%203-11%20adopted.htm)
6. **hb5401 s jud amt 3-11 adopted.htm** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/chamber/2026/RS/com_amends/hb5401%20s%20jud%20amt%203-11%20adopted.htm)

## Votes

- EFFECT Jan 01, 2027 — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Passage — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- PASSAGE — **92–0** (pass) · lower
- PASSAGE-SENATE AMENDED HB — **97–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Funkhouser — primary (person)
- Akers — cosponsor (person)
- Butler — cosponsor (person)
- Dittman — cosponsor (person)
- Flanigan — cosponsor (person)
- Hillenbrand — cosponsor (person)
- Mallow — cosponsor (person)
- Martin — cosponsor (person)
- Masters — cosponsor (person)
- Moore — cosponsor (person)
- Roop — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-02-10** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2026-02-10** To Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-10** Introduced in House `introduction`
- **2026-02-10** To House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-16** To House Legal Services `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-16** Markup Discussion
- **2026-02-17** To House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-18** Markup Discussion
- **2026-02-26** By substitute, do pass
- **2026-02-27** On 1st reading, Special Calendar
- **2026-02-27** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2026-03-02** On 2nd reading, Special Calendar
- **2026-03-02** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-03** On 3rd reading, Special Calendar
- **2026-03-03** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-03** Passed House (Roll No. 267) `passage`
- **2026-03-03** Communicated to Senate
- **2026-03-04** Introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2026-03-04** To Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-04** To Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-11** Reported do pass, with amendment and title amendment `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-11** Immediate consideration
- **2026-03-11** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2026-03-12** On 2nd reading
- **2026-03-12** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-12** Committee amendment adopted (Voice vote)
- **2026-03-13** On 3rd reading
- **2026-03-13** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-13** Passed Senate with amended title (Roll No. 566) `passage`
- **2026-03-13** Senate requests House to concur
- **2026-03-14** House received Senate message
- **2026-03-14** House concurred in Senate amendment and passed bill (Roll No. 651)
- **2026-03-14** Effective January 1, 2027 (Roll No. 652)
- **2026-03-14** House requests Senate to concur in changed effective date
- **2026-03-14** Communicated to Senate
- **2026-03-14** House Message received
- **2026-03-14** Completed legislative action
- **2026-03-14** Effective ninety days from passage
- **2026-03-30** To Governor 3/30/2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** To Governor 3/30/2026 - Senate Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - Senate Journal `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-14** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - House Journal `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-01** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 `executive-signature`
- **2026-06-29** Chapter 136, Acts, Regular Session, 2026 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b63dc128-231e-4237-9acb-75a610be035c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official West Virginia legislature records).